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Hi, my name is Ilana Vines,
and I go to the Emery/Weiner School.

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I like to think of myself
as a pretty well-rounded person.

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I am an okay student.

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I'm an exceptionally hard worker
if I say so myself.

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I play basketball.

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I like to think of myself
as pretty creative.

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Like everyone, we all have
strengths and weaknesses,

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some more easily recognized than others.

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For example, when you see someone
who's in a wheelchair,

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the first thing you see
is a weakness of theirs.

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But let's say you see someone
who's not in a wheelchair -

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let's use me as an example.

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You may not see someone
who gets distracted easily.

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For some people, they may have a unique
quality that can be looked as a weakness.

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For example, not being able to work
in a normal learning environment.

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School systems have worked incredibly hard
to provide a good education

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for kids to take on
and go and do exceptional things.

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However, there's one flaw.

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It only accommodates
to one kind of learner.

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Classes are structured on that one
learner's strenghts and weaknesses.

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By doing this, you're helping
a lot of students, but not all.

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Why can't the other kids
have the same advantage?

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So far, the only solution
I've seen to this problem is one thing -

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One thing that seems like they're helping,

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but actually doing nothing
to help the situation.

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The solution schools have come up with
is to group all the other kids together

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that don't learn like everyone else.

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By doing this, you're saying

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they have more in common with each other
than with the other students.

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But what if there was another way, a way
for all kids to learn at their on pace?

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The idea I came up with

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is to allow the student to decide
how they get the information.

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Yes, the child decides.

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Research shows that kids
do tremendously better in college.

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They do better

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because they pick and choose
their own classes.

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I mean, this makes so much more sense.

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No one knows you better than you.

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I'm not saying we get to pick
our classes and what we learn.

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I'm just saying we get to choose
how we get the information.

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For example, if a child has ADHD,

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instead of putting him or her
in a separate learning environment,

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why not letting the child decide
how they learn better

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and the teacher helps them from there?

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So far, in the United Kingdom,
they're already using this idea.

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They call it PLE,

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Personalised Learning Environments.

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PLEs are environments

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in which individual learners
and groups of learners

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can access a range of tools and resources
for personalised learning activities.

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By doing this, you are not separating
the child from the rest of the classmates.

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You are also putting the child
on a path of academic success.

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Right now, they're being prepared
because when they go to college,

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they will know exactly what to do.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)